Apium graveolens is a plant species belonging to the Apiaceae family, which comprises two important vegetable crops, namely celery and celeriac. In Apium graveolens L. dulce (celery, also known as stalk celery) the plant part that is typically harvested for consumption is the petiole. The petiole carries a leaf blade, and a petiole and its leaf blade together form a leaf of the celery plant. Typically, celery plants comprise multiple leaves. The leaves of celery are compound leaves that are composed of a petiole or leaf stem, and a fully subdivided leaf blade. The leaf blade consists of several pairs of leaflets and ends in a terminal leaflet.
A single celery plant typically represents a large amount of biomass, and for some market segments this is often a too large portion for the consumer. Celery is a vegetable that has a relatively large amount of unusable parts. On average 30% of the plant length is not sold, but cut off as waste.
Another important parameter for celery plants is the tastiness of the petioles. Commercially it would be a great advantage to provide a tasty celery plant that is smaller in size, such that it corresponds to a smaller portion that is more suitable for consumption by single consumers or small households. Currently the market offers e.g. the tender hearts of normal-sized celery plants to accommodate the consumer's wish for smaller-sized portions of fresh celery. However, this strategy involves the removal of the outer leaves, which requires additional labour. Another possible strategy would be to harvest normal celery plants at an immature stage, and sell them when they are still smaller than normal mature plants. However, such immature celery plants usually have a poor flavour, as many taste components typically only develop during maturation of a vegetable plant, resulting in the full flavour when the crop is mature. Thus, immature celery plants do not taste as well as larger, mature celery plants.
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